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A review by ihateprozac
I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
3.0
I’ll Give You The Sun is a whimsical coming of age tale of two teenage twins whose lives and relationship are ripped apart by tragedy, and how the lives of 7 people in a seaside town converge and collide in unlikely ways. It sounds like everything I could want from a light, fluffy contemporary, except for one thing: it’s hella slow.
There’s no denying that this novel is complex: Jandy Nelson masterfully weaved people and plotlines together like spinning straw into gold. It was crazy to see how everybody’s lives intertwined, and how Jude and Noah each held crucial pieces of the puzzle of their lives but their own hurt, stubbornness, guilt, and hatred kept them from solving the puzzle for the better part of 3 years.
However as beautiful and satisfying as the resolution was, I’m just not sure if the beauty of the last 100 pages can redeem how utterly sluggish the first 300 were. The last thing I want is a contemporary that has me feeling like I’m wading through mud to get to the end. It’s not a good sign when I’m reading a scene and think to myself “what’s the point of this?”
If you’re not a fan of magical realism or art metaphors, stay far away from this novel because you’re liable to drown in them. It’s beautiful and surreal and whimsical (imagine statues coming to life and smiting your enemies mid-conversation!), but from time to time the magical realism and metaphor were laid on so thick it was just obscene.
I have to give props to Jandy Nelson for writing a crush and sexual awakening from the perspective of a 13 year old gay boy, rather than the 16 year old girls we typically get in YA contemporaries. Watching Noah try to understand his feelings genuinely filled me with joy! I just wanted to give him a gigantic hug and simultaneously yell at him to confess his feelings for his bae!
Overall: This was a hella cute contemporary story, but for me the pacing and slowness of the first 300 pages overshadowed the brilliance of the final 100 pages. It was amazing seeing everybody’s lives intertwine and how 7 people could be tied together in so many unexpected ways, but I wish it were all a little tighter and a little lighter.
There’s no denying that this novel is complex: Jandy Nelson masterfully weaved people and plotlines together like spinning straw into gold. It was crazy to see how everybody’s lives intertwined, and how Jude and Noah each held crucial pieces of the puzzle of their lives but their own hurt, stubbornness, guilt, and hatred kept them from solving the puzzle for the better part of 3 years.
However as beautiful and satisfying as the resolution was, I’m just not sure if the beauty of the last 100 pages can redeem how utterly sluggish the first 300 were. The last thing I want is a contemporary that has me feeling like I’m wading through mud to get to the end. It’s not a good sign when I’m reading a scene and think to myself “what’s the point of this?”
If you’re not a fan of magical realism or art metaphors, stay far away from this novel because you’re liable to drown in them. It’s beautiful and surreal and whimsical (imagine statues coming to life and smiting your enemies mid-conversation!), but from time to time the magical realism and metaphor were laid on so thick it was just obscene.
I have to give props to Jandy Nelson for writing a crush and sexual awakening from the perspective of a 13 year old gay boy, rather than the 16 year old girls we typically get in YA contemporaries. Watching Noah try to understand his feelings genuinely filled me with joy! I just wanted to give him a gigantic hug and simultaneously yell at him to confess his feelings for his bae!
Overall: This was a hella cute contemporary story, but for me the pacing and slowness of the first 300 pages overshadowed the brilliance of the final 100 pages. It was amazing seeing everybody’s lives intertwine and how 7 people could be tied together in so many unexpected ways, but I wish it were all a little tighter and a little lighter.